As National Apprenticeship Week (6th – 10th March 2017) draws to a close, Podium’s apprentice, Elizabeth, has agreed to answer a few questions about her time as an apprentice.

What are you studying?

I’m on a Digital Marketing course which involves learning about SEO, copywriting, social media management and general marketing techniques.

Why did you choose Digital Marketing?

Social media management was the main reason. I thought since I used Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis, that it would be an easy job. I was very wrong.

“But how can writing a few tweets a day be that hard?”

Well, when you have to scheduled posts for 11 Twitter accounts, seven Google+ accounts, a Facebook account and a LinkedIn account, you may feel the pressure start to build.

What qualification will you receive?

I’ll receive a City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Digital Marketing. I can also gain an Adobe ACA qualification in Photoshop, Premier Pro, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Flash Professional or InDesign.

What’s the best part of doing an apprenticeship?

The unrivalled hands-on experience. On a daily basis, I work on social media and design graphics, I write blogs weekly and I send out email marketing campaigns each month.

And I suppose not having to ask my parents for money any more is great, too.

What’s your favourite aspect of your job?

It’s a toss-up between graphic design and copywriting. However, in my last training week, I discovered the joy of web design, which is also another option for me to look into further.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start an apprenticeship?

Be prepared to work hard. Apprenticeships aren’t ‘easy’ and this has been a huge myth for too long.

In saying that, I’d like to set the record straight on two big misconceptions, they are that:

  1. “Apprenticeships are only available in manual labour.”

This is completely false. There are in fact over 1,500 job roles to apply for through an apprenticeship scheme. So do your research and think about what you can see yourself doing in 5, 10, 30 years.

  1. “Choosing the apprenticeship route means you cannot go to university afterwards.”

You will have the same opportunity to attend university as any of your friends that attend sixth form, even if you don’t choose to go straight away.

 

Any extra comments?

Just a massive thank you to the Podium team for taking a chance on me as an apprentice. I also want to thank the team at QA Apprenticeships for supporting me throughout my apprenticeship.

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